Sophisticated #Cyber Threats, #Biggest Fear For #FinTech in #2018

Digital workplaces and intranet solutions provider Invotra said that sophisticated cyber threats are biggest technology fear for financial and public sector in 2018.

Invotra’s Digital Transformation research, conducted among 504 senior IT managers working across public sector and financial organizations, found the financial services industry and public sector both agree that data and security concerns are major issues. Both organizations are expecting even more sophisticated cyber attacks emerging next year.

Fintan Galvin, chief executive officer at Invotra said:

“We commissioned this research to understand digital challenges facing the financial and public sectors. Both sectors are under pressure to modernize systems, make them accessible, and to keep pace with emerging technologies; all the while tackling sophisticated security threats. These are real hurdles for IT professionals today so it’s no wonder they have concerns for the year ahead.”

Cryptocurrency Industry Fell Prey To Cyber Attacks

With the exponential growth of the cryptocurrency over the past few months, the industry has become a prize target for cyber attacks.

On December 19, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Youbit filed for bankruptcy after losing 17 percent of its assets in a second cyber attack this year. The Seoul-based company lost 4,000 Bitcoins in April when suspected North Korean hackers broke into its system.

Last October, blockchain startup Etherparty ICO was briefly attacked by hackers by injecting a fraudulent wallet addressed into its website, causing some contributors to misdirect their funds to the attacker’s address, reported the blogSilicon Angle.

Other notable cyber attacks in the FinTech sector are the $50 million theft in the breach of the digital decentralized autonomous organization DAO’s system in June; the August hacking of Hong Kong-based digital currency exchange, Bitfinex, wherein cybercriminals made off with $65 million; and the hacking of the Bangladesh Central Bank that saw cyber thieves steal $81 million from the Swift attack.

Pressure To Improve Security Mounts

But while Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of San Francisco-based Coinbase, admits that people are still getting used to the blockchain technology, security will improve over time.

His sentiment is reflective of the Invotra research findings with a huge majority of those surveyed expressed confidence they can fend off cyber threats. When asked how well equipped their organization is to defend itself against cyber attacks, the financial sector showed greater confidence, with 94% saying they had a strong line of defense, compared to 88% in the public sector.

Galvin concluded, “It’s clear from our study that finance technology professionals understand the need to drive change. But, they are charged with providing an accessible digital workplace with meaningful results in terms of improving people’s work lives, whilst facing sophisticated security threats. And, there is, of course, pressure to do more with less.”

Another recent hack included the theft of data and potential exposure of wallets for the Electroneum ICO buyers.